Monday, January 11, 2010

If George Costanza Can Do It...

First off, I think the Superior Snap above, shot for Baristanet, a Montclair, NJ, site, is apropos not only of our times, but of this time of year. Cruising around cyberspace lately, I've seen that a whole lot of y'all are making big plans to rein in the extra calories before 2010 is too far gone.

Your resolutions, come to find out, coincide with plans made by Jason Alexander, best-known as George on the wildly popular "Seinfeld." Seems he's signed on as a Jenny Craig spokesperson.

"My younger son's nickname for me is 'SFB,' which stands for short, fat, bald," Alexander told People. "I have to get rid of one of them, and I can't do anything about short and bald." It also so happens that the, shall we say, well-rounded actor also just celebrated the half-century mark. Just about the perfect mid-way point for making a weight-loss commitment.

Which is the best possible segue into a little cyber-chat about weight-loss, blogging & motivation, I'd say. Two of my teacher friends, Richie of Bellringers & Joel of So You Want to Teach? have knocked their noggins together and come up with a program~plus a blog to go with it~that is part inspiration & mostly perspiration. Their self-described mission? Their blog, Can Wii Do It, is meant "to conquer that New Year's Resolution nemesis~losing weight."

Joel plans to use Wii Fit to get in shape for 2010. Richie plans to go the "old fashioned" route~exercise & diet. Both are posting about their progress daily. They also want to encourage reader comments & participation in their modest enterprise. And they'd love, Love, LOVE to have guest-posters on their blog, too.

Teachers spend a lot of time~there's not a delicate way to put this~sitting on their bums. Grading, grading & more grading. Plus, we're sucked into the "black hole" of the classroom at 7:30 each a.m. & are lucky to emerge, unscathed, by 3 p.m. Teaching is a heck of an adrenaline rush, but often of the wrong kind, as we spend time prodding, cajoling, intervening & convincing most of the blessed day long.

In short, the teaching profession doesn't leave a lot of time for "me" time. Not to pat myself on the back, but we put so much of ourselves into encouraging others that the well of inspiration has pretty much run dry when it's time to take care of ourselves.

Richie & Joel have come up with a brilliant plan, I think: Use the blogosphere as an intervention, as it were. If we're all in this getting fit janx together, we might as well blog about it, correctamundo? Pat each other on the collective back, share diet & exercise tips, commiserate about the ups & downs on the road to getting healthy.

"I know there are other teachers out there who could use this blog," Richie told me in an e-mail. "It might provide some inspiration. We also want to hear from otherabout their fitness challenges, etc. Sort of a cyber-support group, but fun."

I'm thinking that more than those in the teaching profession could use the cyber-help. So I think y'all all should drop on by Can Wii Do It? today; right now; ahora. It's a way to find out what others are up to at the dawn of this New Year. And also a way to help keep us from raiding the emergency chocolate drawer.

I like the idea of a blog-based weight loss, fell-good movement. Sounds like a bloggy personal trainer... I wonder how many calories I burn tippy tapping on blogs (when I'm not eating chocolate or drinkng red wine?)